Fight to Survive
by Mychand
Summary: When Dom is asked to transport a small plane to an old acquaintance, he forces Hawke and Caitlin to make the trip in order to repair a sudden rift that has been formed between them. While on the trip, Hawke and Caitlin find they have more problems than their fight with each other.
1. Part 1

Part 1 of 3

"Fine!" yelled Caitlin. "When we get back, I'll pack my things and leave Santini Air. You don't have to worry about me being such a nuisance anymore. And as for me not knowing when to stop talking, I think I'll stop talking to you right now."

Hawke shot her an incredulous look. He wasn't sure how they had gotten to this point in their argument. He knew it all started a week before over his protectiveness of her on one of their missions, but somehow things between them had deteriorated quickly. Tired of their bickering, Dom had nearly forced them to transport an old acquaintance's plane. They had only been in the air for about an hour and things had gone from bad to worse.

Caitlin moved to the back of the plane to get away from him. Hawke sighed and shook his head. He decided to let himself cool down before continuing any conversation with her. A few seconds later, the situation got even worse.

"Something's wrong," Hawked yelled back to her. "We're losing fuel fast. Strap yourself in. I've got to find a place to land."

Caitlin looked outside at the mountains below them. Her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. "Oh no," she thought. "Where in the world can we possibly land? This isn't a helicopter."

Hawke knew they were going down fast. It took everything he had to keep them up in the air long enough for him to find a spot that he thought might be an easier landing. Within moments they crashed landed on the side of the mountain. The force knocked Hawke forward and he immediately lost consciousness.

He wasn't sure how long he was out but Hawke awoke to a fierce headache and the sensation of blood trickling down his face. He opened his eyes and was surprised that most of the plane appeared to be still in tack. He slowly sat up and tried to clear the cobwebs from his brain. When he didn't feel any other pain beyond his head, Hawke gave a sigh of relief. Then, his thoughts went immediately to Caitlin.

"Cait?" he called out to her. "Cait are you okay?"

When she didn't answer, he slowly got up and made his way to the back of the plane. Her seat was tilted over and several pieces of luggage had fallen on her. "Cait, can you hear me?" he yelled.

After a few tense moments, she finally responded. "Just get this stuff off of me," she replied while obviously still irritated with him.

String moved quickly to get the luggage off of her and pulled her upright in her seat. She was a bit shaky as she undid the strap that was holding her in. String watched her carefully. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I will be when we get out of here," she replied flatly.

Hawke moved to open the side door of the plane. He could tell they were firmly planted between several trees. "I can't believe this thing didn't break apart," he said. "We're lucky to be alive although I'm worried that we might be in too remote a place for them to find us."

"They'll find us," she replied as she followed him out of the plane. "Dom will at least."

Hawke noticed that Caitlin seemed a little wobbly on her feet. He went to grab her arm but she pulled away from him. "I'm fine," she insisted. "I don't need your help. I don't need anything from you anymore."

"Caitlin if you're hurt…." He started to say.

"Leave me alone Hawke," she replied. "I said I was fine."

String finally realized how he must sound to his friends when they've tried to help him in the past. He never wanted Cait or Dom to mother him and he usually gave them a hard time about it.

"Well, the radio is busted," he replied. "Hopefully they got the emergency signal I sent out before we crashed. That will at least give Dom an area to search. It's going to be dark soon and the temperature is going to drop. The plane looks secure enough for us to stay in. I say we pull out the emergency blankets and hunker down for the night."

"Fine," she replied without much emotion.

Hawke studied her face carefully. She was in some sort of pain. He was sure of it. But, their argument and her sudden stubbornness was keeping her from admitting it. "I guess I'll just have to keep a close eye on her," he thought to himself. I can't do much to help her out here anyway."

After getting the blankets, Hawke put one over an opening that was caused by the crash and then he and Caitlin each took one to wrap up in. They put the back seats down flat and tried to lie down and get some rest. Within an hour, the sun went down along with the temperature. Hawke could tell that Caitlin was shivering. She pulled away from him as he moved over towards her.

"Look," he said bluntly. "You can be mad at me all you want but if we are going to get through the night, we'll have a better chance if we huddle together and share body heat."

Caitlin shrugged but didn't respond. She let get Hawke beside her and lay still as he put his arms around her and pulled her close to him. Within moments, the two drifted off to sleep.

When he awoke the next morning, Hawke was relieved that they had made it through the night. Caitlin was slow at getting up and his concern for her was growing.

"Where are you hurt?" he asked while hoping she would finally confess her injuries to him.

"I'm fine," was all she said again. "I don't need you to mother me."

"Caitlin I know your hurt," he replied.

"If I was," she replied. "It's not like you can do anything about it. But if it will get you to leave me alone I'll tell you. I think I may be having a problem with my appendix. I hit my side pretty hard and there's a pretty bad bruise."

Before he could respond, Hawke heard a deep growl coming from just outside of the plane. "Damn it," he said. "We have unwanted company."


	2. Part 2

_Ah, I can't seem to help myself. I like the writing the angst of having Caitlin hurt and Hawke upset about it. :o)_

**Part 2 of 3**

Caitlin listened closely. What she heard made her skin crawl. "Is it a mountain lion?" she asked in a whisper. "What are we going to do?"

String moved to the back of the plane and found the gun case he had place back there.

"You brought a gun?" she asked.

Hawke shrugged. "You know that in our business it pays to always be prepared," he replied. "I don't want to have to use it though. Hopefully I can scare it off."

Hawke slowly crawled out of the plane in order to see where their visitor was at. He checked their surroundings carefully and didn't see anything. As he turned to go back inside the plane, he was quickly attacked from behind.

Caitlin heard the yell as the big cat pounced on top of Hawke. She pulled herself up and went to the plane opening to see String wrestling with the lion. To her horror, he had dropped the gun. Using all the strength she had, she ran and picked it up. Within seconds, a shot rang out and the mountain lion lay dead.

Her heart pounding, Caitlin slowly dropped to the ground. Tired and out of breath, Hawke slowly managed to get up and move over to her. He was amazed that he had only suffered minor scratches.

"Caitlin," he said while still breathing heavily. "Thanks."

She didn't answer him. He could see that she was shaking and she appeared to be in a lot of pain. Hawke grabbed her under the arms and helped her stand up. He wrapped his arm around her waist and assisted her back inside the wrecked plane.

Once inside Caitlin lay back down and covered up with the blanket. Hawke wasn't sure now if her silence was because of their fight or her injuries.

"I always knew you were a great shot," he told her as he went over and felt her forehead.

Caitlin jumped at his touch. He could tell she had a high fever. "Dom packed a bag of provisions for us in case we were late getting back," he continued. "I know there is some water and a few snacks."

"Water would be great," she said softly. "My stomach is too queasy to eat anything."

Hawke searched and found the backpack that Dom had given him. He pulled out the canteen of water and helped Caitlin take a drink.

Afterwards she lay back down and Hawke couldn't help but stare at her. His concern for her was growing and he felt he had to do something to help get them out of this mess.

"If you think I'm such a good shot," she finally replied. "Why don't you trust me?"

Hawke sighed deeply. "It's not that I don't trust you," he replied and then stopped suddenly. "I hear something."

Hawke jumped up and moved to the front of the plane. The rumbling was faint but was growing louder. "What is it?" asked Caitlin.

"Maybe some sort of rock slide," he replied.

The noise grew louder and for a few moments the plane seemed to shake a bit. When it stopped, String looked out the side of the plane and drew a breath of relief. "Looks like these trees we are wedged in are proving to be a safety net for us," he said. "Now if I can just find a way to get some sort of signal to anyone who passes us."

"Use rocks to spell out the word help in that small clearing beside us," replied Caitlin.

"Well, now that clearing is pretty buried in rocks," he replied. "But, I might be able to make it work."

While Hawke was out trying to work a way to get them spotted more easily, Caitlin closed her eyes and let her mind wander. She thought about the time she and String met and how she managed to find him and become a part of his life.

Caitlin was unaware that she had drifted off the sleep until she felt the cool cloth that was placed on her forehead. She opened her eyes and Hawke slowly came into focus.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Terrible," she said softly. "But don't worry about me. Did you find a way to attract some attention to us?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Oddly enough I found a couple of cans of white spray paint in the back. I guess someone was doing some unofficial touch ups on the plane. I used it to spray the rocks."

"Good idea," she replied softly.

"I have more news," he continued. "While I was searching, I managed to check out the fuel lines. It looks like they were severed. There is something fishy about this plane and the crash."

"You mean someone purposely sabotaged us?" she asked. "Who would do that?"

Hawke shook his head. "I don't know," he replied. "But as soon as we get out of here I'm sure going to find out."

Caitlin sighed. "It's been at least twenty four hours," she replied. "I thought for sure Dom would have found us by now."

"He will," String assured her. "Just hang on. Would you like more water?"

Caitlin shook her head. Hawke grabbed the canteen and helped her take a sip.

"Look Cait," he said. "Maybe if you understood why I didn't want your help on that mission we could end this argument of ours."

Caitlin shook her head. "It doesn't matter anymore," she replied sadly. "While laying here I've had a lot of time to think. There's something I need to say to you and I'd appreciate it if you'd let me finish before you reply."

String shook his head. "Okay."

Caitlin closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, Hawke," she said. "I was the one who searched and found you, not the other way around. I'm the one who pushed my way into your life and wouldn't let it go until I got to be a part of the Airwolf crew. You never asked me to stay. That was my choice. I get that now. I can't change you and I shouldn't be mad at you for that. But, I know it's time for me to leave. So, if we do make it out of here, I'm going back to Texas but with no hard feelings towards you."

Hawke could see the tears forming in her eyes. "She doesn't really want to go," he thought. "She can't want to leave."

"Caitlin," he replied. "You don't understand."

Caitlin grabbed her side in pain. "It's starting to really hurt bad now Hawke," she said while trying to catch her breath. "I'm not sure I'm going to make it."

String moved over to her and pulled her into his arms. "Hang on," he said softly. "I've got you. I just know Dom will find us soon. Please hang on."

As he held her, Hawke felt Caitlin go limp in his arms. He held her tighter and closed his eyes. "Don't leave me Cait," he said softly. "Not now."


	3. Part 3

Well, I took this down a slightly different path mainly because it's meant to be a short story and also because I didn't want it to be the "same old" thing. Hope everyone enjoys it. Thanks for the reviews. Time is limited for writing these days so I've had to work it in because I enjoy it so much. :o)

**Part 3 of 3**

Dom finished reading the second part of the manuscript and smiled.

"You like it?" asked Caitlin who was anxiously awaiting his response.

"I think you've done a great job so far," he replied. "I know you took this class in hopes of one day writing your own movie script and that your teacher wanted you to write about a dramatic event in your life, but you know you can't write about Airwolf or the Firm."

Caitlin sighed. "I know," she replied. "I don't plan on mentioning them."

"How are you going to explain the sabotage of the plane?" he asked. "You can't exactly tell them that my old acquaintance was working for Archangel's enemy and he thought he could get his hands on Airwolf if he got rid of String."

"No," she replied. "I figured I'd just say it was caused by someone who was in competition with Santini Air."

Dom shrugged. "Or you could just leave that part out and make it a mechanical malfunction."

"I could," she said. "But then it would be straying even further from the truth. We are supposed to base our writing on a true story."

"How do you plan to explain the rescue?" asked Dom.

"Well, we were rescued by a helicopter," she stated. "That part is true. Lots of rescues are done with a helicopter and a basket. I can explain that Hawke carried me and with Michael's help, he put me in the basket and we were rescued. They don't have to know about Airwolf's special capabilities or that Michael is someone who works for the Firm. I haven't even written that part yet though."

Dom sighed. "Okay, okay," he finally replied. "I think you have a good story here. I guess I was just hoping to hear more about how you and String worked things out. I mean, I was quite worried about the two of you. When you were well enough for visitors and refused to see him, I thought you'd never work things out. Neither of you have ever really explained it all to me."

Caitlin smiled. "I actually wrote that part last night but I haven't edited it yet," she admitted. "Here, you can read it now if you'd like."

Dom took the paper from her hand and grinned. "Of course I would," he replied. "I'd like to see how well you paid attention when we explained what happened while you were unconscious."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAA

Once they were aboard Airwolf, time seemed to stand still for Hawke at first and then the moments seemed to rush by. He held tightly to Caitlin as they flew to the hospital. Once there, they quickly placed her on a gurney and she was rushed into surgery. Hawke was taken into an examination room where his wounds were cleaned and he was given an IV of antibiotics to avoid possible infection. He realized he must have been in a state of shock as hours seemed to fly by before he was placed in a room and Dom came to see him.

"Any word on Cait yet?" he asked, feeling as though he were in a daze.

Dom shook his head. "I heard she's out of surgery but Michael said he would let me know when he had more news."

About an hour later, Michael came in to check on Hawke. He was feeling a little better and was told that he needed to stay overnight just for observation. He wanted to object but he was too exhausted and figured he would try and get some rest.

"When can I see Caitlin?" asked Hawke.

"She's in recovery right now," said Michael. "The surgery went well and the doctor said she should make a full recovery barring any unforeseen complications."

"That's great news," replied Dom. "I was really worried."

Hawke frowned. "Yeah, so was I," he said. "I've never felt so helpless in my life. She was in so much pain and there wasn't a thing I could do about it."

"I'm sure she understands that," said Michael.

"Maybe," said Hawke. "But she's still mad at me for not letting her on the ground in that last mission. I guess I can't blame her. She had as much at stake as we did. I just didn't want her to take that risk."

Dom placed his hand on String's arm. "Then you need to explain it to her," he replied. "Don't sugar coat it. Tell her everything that I know you want to tell her."

"I'm not sure I can," said Hawke. "She already said she wants to go back to Texas and that I don't owe her an explanation. What if her going back is best?"

"You know that's not true," said Dom. "I think she just wants you to be honest with her."

Hawke sighed. "She said I never asked her to stay when she first came to California," he continued. "She's right. I guess I didn't. I wish she understood how happy I am that she did."

"Well, take tonight and think about what you want to say," said Dom. "She deserves to hear it."

The next morning, Hawke was released from the hospital but he was informed that Caitlin didn't want him to visit her. The doctors felt it was best that he respected her wishes and waited to talk to her once she was out of the hospital. Although he wanted to object, String went along with it and waited. At the end of the week, Caitlin was expecting Dom to pick her up and take her home but was shocked to find Hawke in his place.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought Dom was taking me home."

"Nope," he said matter of fact like. "I'm taking you up to my cabin."

Caitlin was becoming a bit agitated. "Hawke, I thought we settled this," she replied. "As soon as I'm up for it, I'm heading back to Texas."

"Not until I get a chance to talk to you first," he replied. "Will you at least give me one day?"

Caitlin gave him a deep sigh. "Fine," was all that she replied.

Hawke's worry grew as Caitlin remained silent on their trip up to the cabin. He knew he had to finally admit to her and to himself some things he'd been running from.

After he landed on the dock, Hawke helped Caitlin out of the Santini helicopter. He put his arm around her waist as they made their way up and inside of the cabin.

"Have a seat," he instructed. "I'll be back down in a minute."

Caitlin watched as Hawke too her things upstairs to the loft. "That's odd," she thought. "I usually sleep down here."

When he got back downstairs, he made them both a cup of coffee before settling down beside her on the couch. Caitlin could tell that he was nervous and it struck her as odd.

"Cait," he finally said. "First of all, I know you said that I never asked you to stay when you first came to Santini Air. I may not have asked you but I didn't push you away either. Dom and I both liked having you with us so we let you stay around. Maybe it wasn't stated directly but it sure should have been implied."

Caitlin smiled. "I know," she replied. "I was just trying to let you know that it wouldn't be any hard feelings if I left."

"I don't want you to leave Caitlin," he said softly. "I'm asking you to stay this time. You know you've become family. That means so much to me."

"But shouldn't family members trust in each other's abilities?" she asked. "You don't trust me."

String shook his head. "Of course I do," he replied. "You have proven time and time again that you can take care of yourself. But that doesn't mean that I want you placed in dangerous situations."

Hawke moved closer to Caitlin and put his hands on her shoulders. "Look, I would do anything to protect you," he said as he looked her in the eyes. "You mean more to me than you'll ever know. I just didn't want you to risk your life when you didn't have to. I was ready to risk mine for you."

"But Hawke, it's my life and I should make that choice, not you," she replied.

String moved even closer to her before responding. "I know," he said. "I guess I was scared of losing you like I've lost everyone else in my life. I can't handle that."

Caitlin smiled. "I don't want you to lose me either," she replied with a chuckle while trying to lighten the mood. "But nothing in life is certain."

"Look Cait, I'm sorry I got so angry with you instead of telling you the truth," said Hawke as he pulled her into a hug.

Caitlin hugged him back. "I'm sorry I got so upset too," she replied. "I guess I just wanted you to have faith in me."

Hawke pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "I've always had faith in you," he replied. "You're one of strongest and most talented women I've ever met."

"Then why didn't you just explain this all to me in the first place instead of demanding me to stay put and treating me like a child?" she asked.

Hawke shrugged. "I guess that was just a bit of stubbornness on my part," he replied. "In hindsight I know that would have made things a lot easier."

"You think?" Caitlin asked with a grin.

Hawke smiled at her and then he gave her a serious look. "Look, there is something else you should know," he said.

Caitlin stared back at him. "Wow, this sounds serious," she said trying to hide her nervousness.

"It is," he replied as he pulled her back into his arms and kissed her.

When he pulled away Caitlin was staring at him. "Hawke, what was that for?" she asked.

"I guess I'm not always the best with words," he replied. "It's hard to explain how I feel about you."

Caitlin stared further into his ice blue eyes before leaning in and kissing him back. The kiss turned more passionate and Caitlin thought for a moment that she was dreaming.

Afterwards she felt a bit breathless. "Hawke, are you saying that….."

He pulled her back to him and kissed her again before she could finish. The next time they parted, she didn't need to ask how he felt. She knew it. It was as if all she had hoped for during the past two years they'd spent together was finally coming true. She decided she didn't need any words. Hawke was showing her how much she meant to him and she was going to do the same.

He took her hand and led her upstairs to the loft. It would turn out to be a night she'd never forget.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAA

Caitlin stared at Dom as he finished reading the last part of her manuscript. She saw his cheeks become slightly red and she laughed at the thought that she had made him blush.

"So, did I explain that well enough?" she asked.

"Oh yea," he replied. "I don't think any editing is needed."

Caitlin laughed. "Dom?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he replied looking up at her.

"I love you too," she said. "Thanks for letting me stay."

Dom smiled. "Believe me," he replied. "I've never regretted that decision. Not even for one day."


End file.
